this house is a circus

Liquid form intoxicants were a new thing to Lelei when he first arrived on the land of Manta Carlos. Obviously, when living under the sea, any kind of liquid refreshment or nourishment would be unfeasible at best and pointless at worst. The lone possible exceptions being heavy-than-water liquids. Of which normally boiled down to thick oozes or heavily sedimented things. Which COULD be could, but were often too much trouble to deal with. So it should as very little surprise that Lelei immediately took an interest when he first began eating on land.

After not too long at the local police, serving as a sort of private contractor for superpower-related crimes, Lelei was coerced in trying his first shot of... something that burned on the way down and made the white parts of his skin and the tip of his fins turn pink. That was then followed by several more at the cheering of his fellow officers as Lelei realized that the drink was not all that far removed from the intoxicating "gummies" made from anemones down below.

So now Lelei made it part of his everyday life on the land to have a drink every so often to get that good feeling again, even if it was a gentle buzz by himself in the middle of the day.

The bartender knew him well, as would anyone that made regular contact with a giant shark man. But the bartender no longer felt any fear of Lelei and happily greeted him as he entered and took his bar stool. And it was HIS bar stool, a reinforced one that didn't crack when he sat his massive form on in.

"I shall try something different today, sir. I've heard good things about so-called 'rum'. So lets have a shot of that."

It wasn't until the bartender had moved out of the way to fix the drink that Lelei spotted a curious sight: another person that was so very obviously not-human. But instead of his rough skin and finned tail, this other person had fur and a canine head. There was no hiding the stares Lelei threw the person's way.

"Hm...."

There was no way Lelei was ever going to be mistaken for any kind of boy in the affectionate or sexy way. Putting aside the more pressing concern that he looked like a shark, Lelei was pretty much the opposite of a cute boy as some would imagine, male or female. Some liked their boys tall, sure, but not as tall as Lelei. Lelei often found himself ducking doorways, especially since his head fin stuck out just far enough to annoyingly bump anything he thought he cleared. Some like their boys muscular and fit, obviously, but they usually preferred someone who was also lean and admittedly kind of skinny. Lelei was packed with muscle and it showed, making his width an occasional issue as well.

The odd animal person Lelei eyed from his side of the bar seemed like only a notch or two below what Lelei's physique was like. Though it was difficult to discern through his outfit. Again, unlike Lelei, whom seemed to be wearin board shorts and a skin tight t-shirt.

"Mmm..."

Lelei did not immediately answer Red's inquiry, and continued to stare even when the bartender brought his rum. Only then to have Lelei stand up, grab both the rum and his custom bar stool, walk over to Red's, and seat himself there.

"Nothing is wrong, sir. Just call me curious. Just I have yet to see another on the land that looks as non-human as I, until now. Tell me, where do you come from?"